Research new software or design concepts.

“Research new software or design concepts.” is a core task performed by Graphic Designers. Among the occupation's 16 rated tasks, workers place it 3rd by importance (#14 most important). About 100% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Research technology designs or applications. in Getting Information

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T2.

How AI is actually used on this kind of task

The Anthropic Economic Index observes how people actually use AI on tasks like this one across millions of real conversations.

• 0.003% share of AI-use records mapped to this task
• Most common interaction: learning
• Average autonomy of the AI: 3.6 (1–5; higher = more autonomous)
• 94% of interactions still needed a human in the loop

Observed AI use describes people choosing to use AI as a tool on this kind of task today. It is augmentation and assistance, not a measure of jobs replaced.

Working with AI vs. handing it off

Of the AI conversations mapped to this task, the split between people working alongside AI and people delegating the task to it.

How people interact with AI on this task

Other tasks in this occupation

• Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor. · importance 4.7
• Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed. · importance 4.7
• Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type. · importance 4.6
• Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites. · importance 4.6
• Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts. · importance 4.5
• Use computer software to generate new images. · importance 4.5
• Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design. · importance 4.3
• Draw and print charts, graphs, illustrations, and other artwork, using computer. · importance 4.2
• Mark up, paste, and assemble final layouts to prepare layouts for printer. · importance 4.1
• Maintain archive of images, photos, or previous work products. · importance 4.1
• Study illustrations and photographs to plan presentation of materials, products, or services. · importance 4.1
• Prepare illustrations or rough sketches of material, discussing them with clients or supervisors and making necessary changes. · importance 4.0
• Prepare notes and instructions for workers who assemble and prepare final layouts for printing. · importance 4.0
• Produce still and animated graphics for on-air and taped portions of television news broadcasts, using electronic video equipment. · importance 3.0

See all tasks on the Graphic Designers page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-15229,
  title  = {Research new software or design concepts.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-15229}
}